And he encircled him with pomegranates: See Exo 28.33. He refers to the Lord, as in the previous verses. Pomegranates are the fruit of a small tree of the same name found in Western Asia and North Africa. They are red and shiny and juicy, about the size of a small apple. In this context, however, the pomegranates are merely a design sewn into the hem of Aaron’s robe; we are not talking about actual fruit. Good News Translation deals with the pomegranates by connecting them directly with the mention of the robe in verse 8. (Verse number 9 in Good News Translation actually belongs between the words “robe” and “with.”) As a result of this, Good News Translation renders encircled as “around the hem” in verse 8. This line may be rendered “The hem of the robe [or, outer garment] was embroidered with pomegranates” or “A design of pomegranates was all around the hem of the robe.”
With very many golden bells round about: The bells on the lower hem of the robe are mentioned in Exo 28.34, which states that the bells were sewn onto the hem between the pomegranates. An alternative model for the first two lines is “The hem of the robe was embroidered with pomegranates and gold bells were sewn between them.”
To send forth a sound as he walked, to make their ringing heard in the temple: Good News Translation combines send forth a sound and ringing into “ringing.” The temple was, of course, not built until long after the time of Aaron. The Hebrew uses here the word normally used for the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It might be best to translate this “holy place” or “sanctuary” rather than “Temple.” This works nicely. An alternative model for this line is “so that people could hear them ringing as Aaron walked in the sanctuary.”
As a reminder to the sons of his people: The ringing of the bells could be interpreted as something to remind God of the people or something to remind the people of God. Good News Translation interprets it as the former, but the Handbook prefers the latter. Compare New Revised Standard Version: “as a reminder to his people.” This would not be something to bring the Lord to mind, or keep the people from forgetting him, but something to assist their worship. Sons of his people simply refers to the Lord’s people. For this line we could say “so that the people would keep their minds on [worshiping] the Lord.”
An alternative model for this verse is:
• The hem of Aaron’s robe was embroidered with pomegranates and gold bells were sewn between them. People could hear the bells ringing as Aaron walked in the sanctuary. This would help the people keep their minds on the Lord.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.